A Shinobi's Tool
by xWolf10x
Summary: What if Naruto was never an idiot, it was just a facade to get people to underestimate him? Watch as Naruto sets out with new goals in life, to become the most powerful ninja in the world, and the new King of Makai.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

Key:

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**"Bijuu Speech"**

'**Bijuu Thoughts'**

_Jutsu Names_

Disclaimer: As I'm sure most already can assume, I don't own Naruto and unless I get lucky, I never will.

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue

* * *

Streets of Konoha

Screams of terror filled the night as the once proud citizens of Konohagakure no Sato scrambled around in a frenzy. Each person doing everything they could to push another out of the way just to get to safety. The reason for this chaos, you might ask? A 250-foot rampaging demon fox outside of their village.

Everywhere this demon stepped, it left a trail of absolute destruction in its wake. Nothing was left untouched, not a single building, park, or monument. Fires spread, and the earth shook as the fox continued on its path.

The ninja were trying their hardest to combat the disaster, but nothing they could do was enough. Every spare hand was being put to use in some way, shape, or form. Whether it be through civilian evacuation, damage control, or trying to stop the demon itself.

As morale dropped, and all hope seemed lost, a flash of yellow could be seen where the fox stood. And out of a massive cloud of smoke, rose a toad almost as large as the fox itself. Taking a puff from its pipe, the toad looked up to see its summoner, a blonde haired man wearing a distinguishable white coat, with red flames licking the bottom. This man was the Yondaime Hokage, leader of Konohagakure no Sato.

The Yondaime looked down at a small bundle in his arms, then at his summon, and nodded. As the toad began to fight off the fox, the Yondaime began drawing an intricate seal array onto the bundle that he carried.

When the Yondaime was finished with the seal, he looked back up and saw his summon with a bloodied face due to being clawed by the demon. With a final goodbye, the Yondaime began making several hand seals.

Ending with a clap of his hands, the Yondaime looked up into the eyes of the demon terrorizing his home, the Kyuubi no Kitsune no Yoko. With a hardened gaze enough to instil fear into the strongest of opponents, the Yondaime began to draw out the soul of the demon. A clash of will ensued, and though it only lasted a minute, it seemed like a lifetime to the two beings.

As his strength began to fade, the Yondaime took one last pull and separated the soul and chakra of the Kyuubi.

Transferring the chakra to the bundle, the Yondaime began to feel the life leaving him. When his control faltered, a piece of the soul of the demon landed inside of the bundle as well.

Knowing it to be too late to change anything, the Yondaime completed the ritual, and with the last of his strength, he held up the bundle and removed the cloth, showing the face of a baby with three whisker-like scars adorning his cheeks.

'Goodbye, my son... may Konoha treat... you well.'

With those final thoughts, Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, died.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hello there everyone, this is my first fic here on FF and I'm not going to have much time to write with finals and all that. I posted this preview to see if anyone likes it. I will see if I continue it or just abandon it and start a new story.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Beatings

Key:

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**"Bijuu Speech"**

'**Bijuu Thoughts'**

_Jutsu Names_

Disclaimer: As I'm sure most already can assume, I don't own Naruto and unless I get lucky, I never will.

* * *

Chapter 2: Beatings

* * *

In a Sewer

Red eyes gazed angrily at the bars in front of him. Being known as the strongest bijuu meant having a reputation to uphold, and being unable to break out of a simple cage was not helping.

Still, his attempts at freedom did tell him one thing. Some of his soul was outside, and he was stuck inside of this cage without any means to get out.

Life was not fun for the Kyuubi.

So with a final act of desperation the massive bijuu let loose a spine chilling roar, and soon decided to recover from the sealing. With spiteful eyes the Kyuubi laid his head down, and slept.

* * *

_6 Years Later_

* * *

Backstreet

The night was lively for the village of Konoha, filled with the festivities that this date brought every year. The celebration brought around for the conquest and subsequent death of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Not everyone was so happy about this day though. If one cared to look, they might have found a small child hugging back alleys, desperately avoiding drunken mobs. The ANBU that were supposed to be protecting the boy stood by and watched with silent hatred cursing the fact that they could do nothing themselves.

Eventually the young boy wound up being conveniently found by a group of to-be attackers, and attempted to run away. Before he could though, the mob caught up and began to beat the poor boy. His golden hair slowly began running red from gashes from sake bottles.

Near the brink of unconsciousness, the young boy only managed to get out one word before he succumbed to blissful sleep, "Why?"

This caused the mob to continue their attack with renewed vigor, angered by the claimed 'demon's' ignorance of the suffering he caused. Soon, a villager got the bright idea to try to end the life of the 'demon' while it slept. He and some others began to collect wood from the surrounding alleys and built a pyre before placing the unconscious boy on it.

The ANBU whose job it was to protect the boy, placed a barrier genjutsu around the scene, so as not to alert any passerby's that this was occurring.

Others came and poured sake on the boy, and soon enough every inch of the mound was soaked in the alcohol. The villager whose idea it was to build this platform took out a lighter and began rallying cries from drunken and sober villagers alike, all calling for the 'demon's' demise.

With a show of his hand and a flourish of his wrist, the villager flung his lighter onto the pyre, setting it ablaze. All cheered as they watched the boy burn in a way reminiscent of the burning of their village. When the crowd had enough of their show, they fled the scene, leaving the sight of a charred body on a pile of wood.

* * *

This was the sight that the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, arrived to, and as he gazed upon the extinguished flames it took every second of experience dealing with such things to not heave at the sight. Sarutobi ordered one of the ANBU to collect the body, and when the ANBU picked it up, something happened that caused the ninja to go into early retirement.

The seemingly dead and disposed body groaned, indicating life within its mangled remains. The Hokage rushed over, and upon inspection, saw six distinct marks upon the body's face, three on each cheek. Sarutobi, having finally realized who he was staring at, ordered the ANBU to take the boy to the hospital and put into ICU immediately.

With all but his bodyguards gone, the Hokage, the God of Shinobi, sank to his knees, and cried.

* * *

Months passed, and though the boy's body was healed, Sarutobi still visited him in the hospital.

"So, Naruto my boy, how do you feel today?" the Hokage asked with a gentle smile. Inside, though, Sarutobi was still seething over the prior events. He couldn't find the perpetrators even though he had ANBU stationed to protect the boy.

Naruto excitedly responded, "I feel great! I've felt ready to leave ever since you came to visit a month ago."

"Uh, jiji, you there?"

Sarutobi was drawn from his thoughts by the young blonde demon container in front of him. "Yes, sorry Naruto, but there is a lot on my mind," the Hokage answered dismissively.

"Now, how about we get you out of this stingy place, shall we?"

With a shout of a "Hell Yeah!" and a smack upside the head, the Hokage led the boy out of the hospital and back to his apartment.

'It seems like he doesn't remember any of it…' thought Sarutobi. The aged leader had consulted many of his subordinates, including Inoichi Yamanaka, a premier specialist in psychological ninjutsu, and came to the conclusion that Naruto's mind simply repressed the traumatic event.

He prayed to the gods that this was true; he didn't need any more headaches caused by this event.

Little did he know, that a pair of red eyes awoke on that very day.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey everybody, here's the second chapter. From here on out, things will get better. New questions, more answers, more suspense and action. It'll be much better (I hope).**

**Be sure to review, favorite, follow, whatever you like!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Kyuubi

Key:

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**"Bijuu Speech"**

'**Bijuu Thoughts'**

_Jutsu Names_

Disclaimer: As I'm sure most already can assume, I don't own Naruto and unless I get lucky, I never will.

* * *

Chapter 3: Kyuubi

* * *

Main Streets

A now 13-year-old Naruto Uzumaki walked the streets of Konoha seemingly excited, for today was the day that he would finally graduate from the academy. He said the exact same thing two other times already.

If one were to pay any attention to him though, they would have seen through his mask of excitement and could tell that he was distracted.

'This is it, the last year of holding back. Finally…' thought Naruto, 'I can get rid of this god-awful jumpsuit.'

'I mean seriously, while it helps train stealth, it just screams 'KILL ME'.' He thought to himself and his tenant.

"**I know, kit, I know. But you're going to have to wait until after team placements to let loose" **said the Kyuubi.

Naruto outwardly pouted, but soon began to chuckle. **"What's so funny?"** questioned the Kyuubi.

'Nothing, just remembering when we first met,' thought Naruto, 'what a day that was.'

"**Yes it was, you were scared shitless."**

'Was not!'

"**Was too."**

'Fine, fine. I still remember that day though…'

* * *

_Flashback_

A 6-year-old Naruto felt wet for some reason. Strange; for someone who was just burned alive. He began to open his eyes, when he thought he was going to feel so much pain from charred and burnt skin. Though to his surprise and delight, he was perfectly healthy, but his skin was a bit more pink than normal.

When he got up, he looked down to see that he was drenched from… whatever was on the ground, and naturally he was freezing.

Naruto looked around, hoping to find out where he was, but all he saw was what looked like sewer pipes leading to somewhere, somewhere warm.

Being the young and curious child that he was, Naruto began to walk towards the warmth, and was confused when he found a massive cage in front of him. Walking a bit closer, he soon came face to face with a giant fox; at least he thought it looked like a fox.

Too scared to move, Naruto just stood there, waiting for something to happen, and soon enough, the massive fox opened its eyes.

It stared him down, as if judging his soul and his worth with his piercing gaze. What the fox had found, Naruto had no clue, but whatever it was caused it to smile a massive, predatorial grin. **'So the jailer finally comes to play…'** thought the bijuu.

Steeling his resolve, Naruto walked up to the cage and calmly said hello. "Hello, um… may I ask you where we are… and also who are you?"

The bijuu let out a hearty laugh, although to the poor boy it sounded more like a nightmarish howl. **"Boy, this,"** Kyuubi gestured to the area around him, **"is your mindscape. As to who I am, I have been called many names, but to you and your people I am known as the **_**Kyuubi no Kitsune**_**."** He said with no small amount of disgust at the title.

"YOU'RE THE KYUUBI!" Naruto shouted in surprise and disbelief. "But, but that's impossible. The Yondaime killed you…"

"**Foolish human, you can't kill a chakra demon."**

"a chaku what?"

Kyuubi sighed, **"A chakra demon, a collection of chakra given consciousness and a soul."**

"oh."

"**Yes, oh. Now listen, I hate to repeat to myself twice. You just nearly died at the hands of filthy common villagers. If it weren't for me, you would be dead. Second…"** Kyuubi looked down.

"**You're not going to ask how I can do that, or why I'm inside of you."** Asked the chakra being.

"No, not really, I kind of figured out what happened. You were sealed inside of me by the Yondaime. It was easy to get, I was born on the day you attacked, you said you can't be killed, and the villagers have been calling me a 'demon' my entire life" explained Naruto.

'**Clever boy; he may just be worthy after all.'** Kyuubi thought.

"**Well, if you know so much, how do you think you could ever protect Konoha as a ninja?"** exclaimed Kyuubi, remembering all the times the boy said he was going to be Hokage.

"I don't. I don't want to protect this place. Its villagers have done nothing but beat me and try to kill me for something out of my control. I'm through with Konoha, it can rot like the trees it's made of" said Naruto, finally finishing his mini rant.

"**Well perhaps we can help each other on that aspect. See, the way things are, I'm stuck in this cage, and if you die, I die… and I really don't want to die,"** began Kyuubi.

"**The villagers continue to attack you, but if you are sick of this place, then I have a plan, if you're interested"**

This peeked Naruto's interest.

"Alright, I'll hear your plan, but on one condition."

"**Name it"**

"You seemed disgusted by the title of Kyuubi, so tell me, what is your name?" questioned Naruto.

'**Yes, he will do nicely'** thought Kyuubi.

"**A human has never asked my name before, so why you."**

"Well, two reasons: one, we're stuck together for the rest of my life; and two, I want to know the name of my new partner in crime."

Kyuubi chuckled, **'Never thought I'd say this again,'**

"**Kurama, my name's Kurama…"**

"Well then, nice to meet you Kurama."

So as Naruto's body healed with help from the med-nin and Kurama on the outside world, inside of his mind, Naruto began to work with Kurama, planning something that will take the ninja world by storm.

___End Flashback_

* * *

'I don't know how this village is still standing, I mean, to pass all a kid needs to do is a simple _bunshin, henge, and kawarimi_. It's pathetic' Naruto mentally ranted.

"**It is, but soon, soon our plan will begin."** Kurama added.

With a grin to match Kurama's, Naruto entered the academy.

'And no one will see it coming.'

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey everybody, here's the next chapter. Things are starting to pick up now.**

**I hope everyone enjoys.**

**Be sure to review, favorite, follow, whatever you like!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Academy

Key:

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

**"Bijuu Speech"**

'**Bijuu Thoughts'**

_Jutsu Names_

_Disclaimer: As I'm sure most already can assume, I don't own Naruto and unless I get lucky, I never will._

* * *

Chapter 4: The Academy

* * *

Konoha Academy

Today was a fairly normal day at the Konoha ninja academy, boys tried to challenge each other, the girls were fawning over the boys. Overall, nothing out of the ordinary, until the end of class came.

You see, today was the day of the final examinations to see if any student could become a genin. The exam was a fairly simple three part test. The first was a written examination to test their knowledge of Konoha history and other core subjects. Second was an accuracy display with thrown weapons such as shuriken and kunai, and then a quick spar against one of the class' chunin sensei. The third and final test was a demonstration of the three standard ninjutsu.

First was a _henge_, where the performer casts an illusion around themselves to appear as someone or something else.

Second was a _kawarimi_, which is when the user quickly replaces themselves with a random object, commonly a log.

The final and most 'chakra intensive' was the _bunshin_, this is when the user casts an illusion of their target to appear like they made copies of themselves. This was by far the most pointless jutsu of the three, since any enemy above genin could dispel the genjutsu and the 'clones' couldn't even hit anyone.

"NARUTO!" screamed Iruka Umino, one of the chunin instructors for their class.

"huh?" Naruto asked, half-asleep.

Iruka replied, "It's your turn to demonstrate the three academy jutsus."

"oh."

Now, Naruto was highly proficient with the _henge_ and _kawarimi_. The bunshin on the other hand, was a lost cause to him simply because he had far too much chakra to mold it correctly. If he tried to cast it, the clone would appear grey and dead-like.

That's not to say he was a lost cause with _bunshin_-class jutsu. He could do more chakra intensive variations such as the _kage bunshin_, which was far superior in all but chakra cost. This version was developed by the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It was commonly used for surveillance purposes as well as a training tool.

The reason for this was because any information that the clone gained or saw was transmitted to the caster upon being dispelled. The one backlash was the major headache that ensued if too many dispelled at once.

Naruto just stared blankly for a second, before saying, "Alright, just give me a minute to get up."

"**Hey kit, be careful, the one with silver hair smells like snakes."**

'Will do.'

* * *

In the Exam Room

Iruka, professional as always, stated, "Naruto, please perform the _henge_."

With a nod, Naruto went up in a puff of smoke, and before him stood a perfect replica of Mizuki. To Iruka, it almost seemed too perfect.

"Alright Naruto, please dispel the _henge_,"

"What are you talking about, I'm Mizuki." said 'Naruto'.

"Ha, ha, very funny, now dispel the henge…"

With a puff of smoke, the 'Mizuki' beside Iruka went up in a puff of smoke, and there stood Naruto, looking like he was about to burst out laughing.

Confused, Iruka looked back and forth between the still stunned Mizuki, and the now-laughing Naruto.

"How? What did you do?" asked Iruka, dumbfounded.

"Oh, this? All I did… was _henge_ into Mizuki… and _kawarimi_ with him… I can't believe… you really fell for that." laughed out Naruto.

To this Iruka merely replied, "Well that was impressive, but you still have to do a bunshin."

"Quick question, does it have to be a simple _bunshin_?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, it does. You're not going to get any special treatment. Now, do it or you will fail." replied Mizuki.

'Heh, alright, this makes life a lot easier,' thought Naruto.

Naruto nodded, looking somewhat uneasy, as he put his hands through the seals. So he began pulling on his chakra, and knowing that he had yet to gain the necessary control, overloaded the jutsu with far more chakra than necessary.

The result was something completely necessary that Naruto hoped to never have to witness again, the sight of three shriveled, gray, corpse-like _bunshin_.

Naruto gazed at them, a sheepish yet disappointed look on his face.

Iruka sighed, "I'm sorry Naruto, you fail…"

Mizuki put on his best sympathetic face, "Oh come on Iruka, he flawlessly performed the two others; can't we just let him pass?"

"No, we can't, the rules are rules and you said it yourself, he won't get any special treatment," Iruka said sternly.

With that, Naruto left the classroom looking like the epitome of depression.

* * *

Some 20 minutes later, after all of the students left, Naruto was still sitting, swinging on the lonely swing set, hoping to whatever deity that was listening that his plan wouldn't fail now.

"Naruto," shouted Mizuki.

'Perfect' Naruto mentally grinned.

"I was looking for you. I know that Iruka said that rules were rules and all that, but I know something he doesn't. Do you want to know what it is?" asked Mizuki.

Naruto, with feigned interest, said, "sure."

"Well… the truth is, there is another way to pass the genin exam. It is a test designed to show that you are so skilled, that you deserve to be a genin anyway."

With this, Naruto looked more interested.

"How? What is this test? Tell me… please" pleaded Naruto.

"Alright… here it is. All you have to do is take the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage and learn one technique from it. Do you think you can do that?" explained Mizuki.

"I know I can!" shouted Naruto.

"Alright, here's where I want you to meet me…"

With that Mizuki spent the next ten minutes telling Naruto exactly what he had to do to get the scroll: where it was located, what the guard shifts were, and most importantly, where to meet after he learned the technique.

* * *

**A/N**

**Here's the fourth chapter, it was mostly just setup for the next chapter, where this fully breaks from cannon.**

**Sorry for not posting in a while. I have decided to try writing out more chapters in advance, so expect a weekly update or more.**

**Be sure to review, favorite, follow, whatever you like!**


End file.
